On the First, Third and Fifth (if there is one) Tuesday of every month at 7:30 pm Eastern SCARS holds an Auxcomm DMR net on Brandmeister TG 3206945. This talkgroup can be reached through any repeater or hotspot connected to the Brandmeister Network. We have TGIF Talkgroup 72277 as a backup if the Brandmeister Network is unavailable for any reason. DMR was selected for these nets because it is one of the few ways that communication can occur throughout county as none of the analog repeaters are linked together nor can they reach the 70+ mile length of the county. We also use DMR simplex for operating events.
DMR ID are the linkage back to your callsign. Radioid.net issues DMR ID. You will have to create an account and upload an official copy of your license before a DMR ID will be issued.
Area DMR Repeaters
SCARS is adding analog voice nets to our rotation starting in 2025. We are using the county owned (K4EOC) central VHF repeater 147.135+ PL 107.2 for this net. These nets occur on the second and fourth tuesday at 7:30 pm Eastern. The flow of this net is similar to our DMR net and provides members without DMR equipment the ability to participate in these events and for members to test analog equipment. This net once per month will lead into the digital net on the same repeater.
Repeaters of Interest
Also starting in 2025, SCARS is adding a once per month (fourth tuesday at 8pm Eastern) a digital net over the county central VHF repeater 147.135+ PL 107.2. These nets will be to practice sending and receiving ICS type traffic over digital modes like VARA-FM, MT-63 2KL, RTTY and potentially other modes appropriate for an FM repeater.
HF will be the backbone of long distance communications during disaster response. These are some of the HF nets that SCARS members participate in or monitor
Parks on the Air (POTA) is a program for amateur radio operators to activate state and national parks worldwide. There are multiple POTA sites within Brevard County that SCARS uses as a way to practice for field activations throughout the year. The other field events we hold are Get on the Air (GOTA) events in partnership with Brevard County Parks and Recreation. In 2024 and again in 2025 we will participate as part of their Family Campout as well as quarterly we hold events open to the public to get on the air in conjunction with both major field days (Winter Field Day in January and Summer Field Day in June) and other contest weekends to provide opportunities for unlicensed operators learn about amateur radio and get on the air with SCARS members coaching them through the process.
Contesting is the competitive component of Amateur Radio. There are large contest stations with maximum power amplifiers and lots of towers and expensive high gain antennas. Those stations are known as "Big Gun" stations and are easily noticed over stations with more modest means. The Littlest Pistol, is contesting for the rest of us, using modest equipment, we use these events to develop and hone our skills in operating in congested environments. Our inaugural operation was the ARRL RTTY Roundup in January 2024 operating a single transmitter on a G5RV antenna. While Winter Field Day and Summer Field Day are indeed contests, they are more akin to the POTA/GOTA events than with these contests. Our plans for 2025 include: